Ductile failure predictions using micromechanically-based computational models

Abstract

Three different micromechanically-based computational models for fracture in porous ductile solids are compared and assessed. Model A is a unit cell model of a porous ductile solid comprising a uniform periodic distribution of voids subjected to normal macroscopic loading. Models B and C, on the other hand, are unit-cell type models that represent an imperfection band governed by a doubly periodic array of voids separating two non-porous outer blocks. The outer blocks have a finite size in Model B and are semi-infinite in Model C. The non-porous material surrounding the voids, and the material of the outer blocks in Model B and Model C, are considered as an elasto-plastic isotropic material. Numerical simulations are performed for a wide range of macroscopic stress states. For each model, various criteria for determining the onset of ductile failure are evaluated to demonstrate their impact on the failure predictions. The results show that the failure loci strongly depend on the computational model and failure criterion employed. Thus, these three models cannot be used interchangeably – neither to investigate failure mechanisms nor to develop or calibrate fracture models – and an unambiguous failure criterion must be chosen.